Woman convicted of stealing morphine from elderly nursing home patient in Portsmouth

Friday

Jan 4, 2013 at 3:15 AM

PORTSMOUTH — A local woman has been convicted and sentenced for stealing morphine that was supposed to go to an elderly nursing home patient.

Attorney General Michael A. Delaney announced Thursday that Nina Perez of Portsmouth was convicted and sentenced on Wednesday, Jan. 2, for possession of a controlled drug and abuse of a facility patient.

Perez, a former licensed practical nurse, pleaded guilty in Rockingham County Superior Court to one class B felony count of possession of a controlled drug and one misdemeanor count of abuse of facility patients.

In May of 2012, Perez, while working as a licensed practical nurse at The Edgewood Centre, a nursing home facility in Portsmouth, took a quantity of the controlled drug morphine that was prescribed for a resident and retained it for her own use.

Perez received a sentence of twelve months at the Rockingham County House of Corrections followed by two years of probation. Six months of the sentence was suspended for two years upon the condition of good behavior. Perez also received a sentence of two to five years at the New Hampshire State Prison and a $350 fine. The term of incarceration was suspended for three years upon the condition of good behavior.

The case was prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which investigates both health care provider fraud and allegations involving abuse and neglect of nursing home residents. Perez's nursing license has been revoked and she has been added to a federal database of individuals who are excluded from working in health care facilities for five year.

Delaney said, “My office will continue to investigate and vigorously prosecute caregivers who violate the trust placed with them by committing crimes of abuse upon the state's most vulnerable citizens.”

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